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Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 January 1833
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Letter, , OH, to , , Monroe Co., NY, 4 Jan. 1833. Retained copy, [ca. 4 Jan. 1833] in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 14–18; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 1.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 4 January 1833, JS wrote a letter to a newspaper editor identified in the inside address as “N. E. Sextan” of , Monroe County, New York. Less than a month later, the American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer, edited by , published a portion of JS’s letter, indicating that Saxton was the intended recipient. The American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer was a weekly evangelical newspaper published in upstate . According to Saxton, the newspaper was devoted to “the free discussion and critical investigation of the doctrines and duties of Christianity.” Saxton encouraged “his brethren in the ministry and other correspondents to contribute liberally to the columns of the Revivalist,” advice that JS apparently took seriously.
Speaking of the time period in which JS wrote this letter, a later JS history states that “appearances of troubles among the nations, became more visible, this season, than they had previously done, since the church began her journey out of the wilderness.” A cholera epidemic, an outbreak of the plague in India, and political tumult between South Carolina and the federal government were especially troubling. JS saw these events, on which had reported in several issues of his newspaper, through a millenarian lens. In the four months before he wrote to Saxton, JS’s revelations and other documents had warned of disasters preceding the return of Jesus Christ—disasters that seemed to be afflicting the world. A September 1832 revelation, for example, explained that because “the whole world lieth in sin and groaneth under darkness,” the Lord “laid [his] hand upon the nations to scorge them for ther wickedness.” “Plagues” would continue, the Lord declared in the revelation, “untill I have completed my work.” In October 1832, after walking through the streets of , New York, JS lamented that “aganst man is the anger of the Lord kindled because they Give him not the Glory.” The calamities that the Lord would pour out on the world were graphically portrayed in a 25 December 1832 revelation: “With the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn and with famine and plague, and Earthquake and the thunder of heaven and the fierce and vivid lightning also shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel.” A 27–28 December revelation therefore proclaimed it the duty of the of the church “to warn the people” and “to prepare the saints, for the hour of judgments, which is to come.”
JS wrote to partly to issue the required warning. JS explained that God had again established on the earth the covenant that Christ offered during his ministry—a covenant different from the ancient covenants that God had made with the children of Israel. To allow Israel access to this new covenant, the gathering of Israel had commenced, the apostolic church had been restored, and the inhabitants of the earth now needed to repent, be , and receive the Holy Ghost. JS concluded his letter with an explanation of the Book of Mormon, its doctrines, and the establishment of in , using imagery from a Book of Mormon allegory that compares Israel to an olive tree.
The original letter is no longer extant, but copied it into JS’s letterbook, probably soon after its composition. When published a portion of the letter—beginning at the paragraph starting with “The Book of Mormon is a record of the forefathers . . .” and continuing to the end of the letter—he prefaced it by stating it was written by “Mr. J. Smith Jr., who we suppose, is a principal leader of the sect that embrace Mormonism.” The letter, Saxton continued, contained “much good feeling and urbanity.” Subsequent issues of the newspaper contained no commentary or articles about the letter. In February 1833, JS wrote another letter to Saxton, complaining that the editor had published only a portion of the original letter. JS warned him to “publish that letter entire” if he wanted “to clear your garments from the blood of you[r] readers,” but Saxton never published the complete letter.
Footnotes
- [1]
“Mormonism,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 2 Feb. 1833, [2]. Saxton was previously the editor of the New York Evangelist, which was consolidated with the Rochester Observer in 1832. The Rochester Observer began in 1827 as a Presbyterian newspaper; by the end of 1832, it had three thousand subscribers. It was known as the American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer from 29 September 1832 to 13 July 1833. (See French, Gazetteer of the State of New York, 396; Norton, “Comparative Images,” 359, 361.)
American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.
French, J. H. Gazetteer of the State of New York: Embracing a Comprehensive View of the Geography, Geology, and General History of the State. . . . 8th ed. Syracuse, NY: R. Pearsall Smith, 1860.
Norton, Walter A. “Comparative Images: Mormonism and Contemporary Religions as Seen by Village Newspapermen in Western New York and Northeastern Ohio, 1820–1833.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1972.
- [2]
“American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 29 Sept. 1832, [1]; see also Norton, “Comparative Images,” 359–360.
American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.
Norton, Walter A. “Comparative Images: Mormonism and Contemporary Religions as Seen by Village Newspapermen in Western New York and Northeastern Ohio, 1820–1833.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1972.
- [3]
JS History, vol. A-1, 244.
- [4]
See, for example, the following articles in the American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer: “Cholera Record,” 29 Sept. 1832, [1]; “Effects of the Cholera,” 29 Dec. 1832, [1]; “Political News: South Carolina Nullification,” 22 Dec. 1832, [3]; and “Persia,” 29 Dec. 1832, [4].
American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.
- [5]
Revelations in 1831 explained events that would precede Christ’s return, but JS seemed especially concerned with signs of the times in late 1832 and early 1833. (See, for example, Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45]; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1]; Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133]; Letter to Emma Smith, 13 Oct. 1832; and Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832.)
- [6]
Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:49, 96–97].
- [7]
- [8]
Revelation, 25 Dec. 1832 [D&C 87:6].
- [9]
Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:81, 84].
- [10]
See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 131–139 [Jacob chap. 5].
- [11]
“Mormonism,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 2 Feb. 1833, [2].
American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.
- [12]
a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the hystory of our nation pestalence hail famine and earthquake will sweep the wicked off this generation from off the face of this Land to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country— The people of the Lord, those who have complied with the requsitions of the new covenant have already commenced gathering togethe[r] to which is in the State of . Therefore I declare unto you the warning which the lord has commanded me to declare unto this generation, rembring [remembering] that the eyes of my maker are upon me and that to him I am accountabl for evry word I say wishing nothing worse to my fellow men then their eternal salvation therefore fear God, and give glory to him for the hour of his Judgment is come, <Repent ye> Repent, ye and imbrace the everlasting Covenant and flee to Zion before the overflowing scourge overtake you, For there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things which I have spoken fulfilled Rem[em]ber these things, call upon the Lord while he is near and seek him while he may be found is the exhortation of your unworthy servant
Joseph Smith Jr
<To N Y.> [p. 18]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
- [38]
This information was included in a revelation dictated less than two weeks earlier. (Revelation, 25 Dec. 1832 [D&C 87].)
- [39]
See Jeremiah 23:8; 31:7–8; and Revelation, 3 Nov. 1831 [D&C 133:26].
- [40]
A July 1831 revelation designated “the land of Missorie” as the place the Lord had “appointed & consecrated for the gethering of the Saints.” The Evening and the Morning Star reported in November 1832 that “since the gathering commenced, which is a little over a year, the number of the disciples which have come from the east, and which have been baptized in this region, is 465[.] Children and those not members, about 345[.] Total 810.” (Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:1]; “The Gathering,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Nov. 1832, [5].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
- [41]
See Revelation 14:7.
- [42]
See Revelation, ca. 7 Mar. 1831 [D&C 45:31].
- [43]
See Isaiah 55:6; and Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832 [D&C 88:62–63].
Insertion in handwriting of William W. Phelps.